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Our Humane Equation

Since 2008, we have committed ourselves to ending the euthanasia of adoptable shelter pets. Currently, Animal Humane New Mexico’s Live Release Rate is 92%. We use every opportunity available to further our mission of re-homing pets in our care. To illustrate these efforts and the investment of human and financial resources we continue to make, we have outlined the steps we have taken to reach this goal:

Animal Humane New Mexico’s

Humane Equation

Feral Cat Trap/Neuter/Return (TNR) – Our TNR program began in 2008. As of December 2013, over 8,300 cats have been sterilized leading to a 15% drop in kitten intakes at Animal Humane last year. Our current TNR program is funded by PetSmart Charities and anonymous Animal Humane donors.

High Volume, Low-Cost Spay Neuter – In addition to sterilizing every shelter pet, Animal Humane has operated a high-volume Spay/Neuter program for pets belonging to low-income owners since 2007. Over 41,300 pets have been sterilized including over 11,600 low-income owned pets.

Rescue Groups – Animal Humane works actively with close to 200 rescue groups. The full list is posted on www.animalhumanenm.org.

Foster Care – Our foster parent program has grown from 25 in 2008 to over 150 fosters today. In 2013, more than 1,100 pets were fostered. Animal Humane’s new “Foster 2 Home” volunteer-driven program will move shelter-stressed pets into foster homes. The foster will be responsible for re-homing the pet, with Animal Humane providing marketing and support services.

Comprehensive Adoption Programs – We have many adoption programs including Pets For Seniors, senior pet discounts, adoption incentives such as “Name Your Price” adoptions for cats over 2 years of age, Cats Around Town, and over 30 Mobile adoption events annually. Our Meet Your Matchtm program combined with our adoption qualification and counseling have led to a consistently low return rate of 6% or less. Adoptable pets are available at our two locations: our newly renovated Main Campus at 615 Virginia St. SE and our Northeast Heights Adoption and Training Center located at 9132 Montgomery Blvd. NE.

Pet Retention – Programs include a Free Behavior Helpline, Train Humane manners classes, a free Pet Food Bank, and the PetSave fund providing financial assistance to owners to prevent the need for pet surrenders or euthanasia due to medical costs.

Medical and Behavior Rehabilitation –Started in 2007, the Animal Humane Behavior Team performs behavior assessments on every dog that enters the shelter, supervise doggie play groups, train volunteers, and oversee our Cat and Dog Behavior modification programs. All dog walkers provide enrichment by teaching dogs life skills (settle, sit, down, wait) to increase their adoptability as many dogs that reach our doors have received little or no training.

Public Relations, Community Involvement – Promoting adoptable pets is a daily effort, with featured “Pet of the Week” media placements at over nine TV and radio stations. Regular feature articles on behavior appear in Local IQ and we are regularly featured in the Albuquerque Journal. Animal Humane also receives and seeks regular news coverage in all local media on animal welfare issues. Our Executive Director sits on the Animal Sheltering Board and is currently Chair of the Shelter Standards Committee. Our Humane Education Outreach Team provides many presentations annually to school children. We are working to end dog fighting by teaching agility and humane treatment of all pets through our 505 Pit Crew program. All of these efforts generate on-going excitement and interest for the plight of homeless pets.

Volunteers – Animal Humane’s volunteer force has grown from 70 active members in 2007 to over 425 in 2014. We provide a comprehensive training program for all volunteers. Volunteers assist with adoptions, photographing and profiling pets, dog walking, socialization and training, cat grooming and socialization, fostering, spay/neuter and surgical recovery, and many more tasks to increase adoptions.

Proactive Redemptions – We offer a $50.00 reward to any employee who reconnects a lost pet with owner. Every pet is scanned for a microchip at intake. Volunteers review Lost and Found ads and postings several times a week and walk though our shelter to make matches. Over 200 pets were returned to owners in 2013. We offer a monthly vaccination and microchip clinic. The more microchipped pets there are, the higher the return rates.

Compassionate Director – Through leadership, goal setting and program development, Animal Humane’s euthanasia is down 65% since beginning of the Executive Director’s tenure. The current rate is 8% of intakes – all for medical or behavioral reasons. No healthy pets have been euthanized at Animal Humane since December 2009. In 2012, she led Project Humane, a campus-wide $5.6 million dollar renovation to upgrade our facilities to improve the health and well-being of the pets in our care and to make a more welcoming venue for the public to come and adopt.